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Archive for the ‘marin cilic’ Category

Stick with me while I attempt to catch up on everything that I missed at Wimbledon while I was there. (And yes, I know I may be stretching the definition of ‘upset’ somewhat with some of these …) This is who we’ve lost so far that we wouldn’t have expected to …

Sam Stosur and Francesca Schiavone crashed out to Kaia Kanepi and Vera Dushevina respectively. That’s an entire French Open final gone right there. You’d almost think it was played on a different surface or something.

Verdasco lost to Fognini in five. And still needs a haircut.

Damn Croatians. You’re supposed to be the reliable one, Marin! Although why anyone thinks that, I don’t know. Anyway, I watched this match. It made me sad.

Oh, Boss.

Please don’t let that be your last Wimbledon, OK?

Grass is not Shahar’s best ever surface, it must be said. She lost to Angelique Kerber in three. Still, I’ve been vaguely touting Kerber as a thing-in-waiting, so there’s that.

Big win for bronzed god Daniel Brands, who took out Kolya in straights. Kolya is another one who doesn’t thrive on the grass at all, though. Plus that whole fractured wrist thing.

If a result doesn’t upset anyone, is it still an upset? I’ve decided that this qualifies on the basis that Robin Haase did the upsetting, which means he actually won a match. Shock face.

Not sure what’s the bigger not-really-a surprise, Mel losing in the second round or the fact that she made it.

Lovely Andrea Petkovic led by a set, 5-4 and 40-0 against Svetlana Kuznetsova.

She lost.

Robin dropped just two games to Taylor Dent and looks to be on awesome form (oh please, let that be true!)

Aravane literally doesn’t know the meaning of backing off, and it’s working for her as she survived a tough challenge from Angelique Kerber.

This guy’s playing. In case you didn’t know.

This girl’s playing. In case you care.

Marin is into the third round after playing a mere seven sets. Weird.

The more I have to listen to male journalists snigger and judge about Venus’ dress, the more I love it. Sod them all, she looks amazing.

Say hello to Julian Reister. Before this tournament, he’d played three ATP matches in his career and lost them all. Now he’s beaten Feliciano Lopez and Olivier Rochus and he’s in the third round of Roland Garros. And stuff like this is why I love Slams.

Marin Cilic had about as a routine a win as he ever really does today, beating Ricardo Mello (not to be confused with Marcelo Melo of Melo and Sa, who I am reliably informed is an entirely different person) 61 36 63 61. And then, this being Roland Garros, he had to do a slightly mad interview.

If you were a country?
Croatia. It’s my country but, more importantly, it’s a fantastic country and a great place to live. It’s mellow, and the people are nice and open. We also have the sea, mountains and lots of different things to see.[I hear it’s the Mediterranean as it once was. Am I right, Eurosport viewers?]

If you were a city?
Melbourne. It’s a great city, with a Mediterranean atmosphere. There is a lot to do and the people are relaxed. It is also a city that is on a human scale.

If you were a main course?
Filet mignon. Medium-rare, but not too rare.[See? He wants me to feed him steaks. And pie. While dressed as a ’50s housewife.]

If you were a film?
Braveheart! I like the story, the characters and the epic battles. It’s a wonderful film.

If you were a song?
Numb-Encore, by Jay Z and Linkin Park.[Christ on a bike. He means this.]

If you were an historic event?
The Olympics. I was lucky enough to be a member of Croatia’s 2008 team for the Beijing Olympics. For sports like athletics and swimming, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime competition.

If you were a car?
A Mercedes S50. A combination of power, speed and safety.[Just like his game, if it had some safety.]

If you were a restaurant?
A steakhouse.[I’d eat there.]

If you were a drink?
Coca Cola.[I’d slurp it through a straw.]

If you were a tournament?
One of the four Grand Slams.

If you had special powers?
I’d like to be able to fly.

If you were a gadget?
A BlackBerry.

If you were a football player?
Kaka, the Brazilian player. He’s my favourite player.

So … this was a tough one to watch. The tennis was really great, and for a while it really looked like Marin was going to pull it out of the bag; after giving up an early break in the first, he fought doggedly to keep it to just that single break advantage, and although he was unable to hold on to the early break he in turn gained at the beginning of the second, he looked slightly the better player throughout and eventually nabbed it when Youzhny flubbed a baseline smash into the net. The third set was a marathon and Marin had break points, but a couple of unlucky net cords within the one game undid him and Youzhny served it out for his first Munich title in his third final. And I was very sad for Marin.

He was pretty sad for himself, too.

But … it was great match and Youzhny played really well, so it’s good that he won. What? Stop looking at me.

So here’s the state of play. Somewhat ironically, there’ll be an all-American final in Belgrade.

John Isner had a great win over Stanislas Wawrinka and Sam Querrey disposed of little Filip Krajinovic, in his first ATP semi-final courtesy of Novak Djokovic’s withdrawal. He lost 61 62 in front of his home crowd.

Welcome to the wonderful world of the ATP!

In Munich, Marin Cilic has somehow cobbled enough wins together to be in the final. Yes, it’s one of those weeks. He actually played really well against Marcos Baghdatis today and got better as the match went on, which is, I suppose, a good thing.

It’ll be Mikhail Youzhny facing him in the final, after Youzhny disposed of Philipp Petzchner who had knocked out the defending champion Tomas Berdych. Youzhny is up 3 -0 in the head-to-head with Cilic, by the way. I’m just saying.

And the shock of the day in Estoril was Roger Federer’s 62 76(5) loss to Albert Montanes, the defending champion, in Estoril. It was a rain-delayed day, the conditions were terrible and for whatever reason, Federer just didn’t adapt at all. It was a mystifyingly lame performance from him, although he insists he isn’t worried – his post-match comments basically added up to ‘meh, these things happen’. I was fairly impressed with Montanes, though, who didn’t let either the conditions or the unexpected lack of resistance throw him off and is now in an excellent position to defend his title.

Lost in the Federer shuffle, however, has been the fact that Frederico Gil has become the first Portuguese player to reach an ATP final and he’s done it on his home ground, beating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 62 57 63. Heartwarming stuff.

So, the BMW Open in Munich is happening and still has most of its seedy goodness intact, with the exceptions of Julien Benneteau and Benjamin Becker. More importantly, it has had its players’ party, and hence its player party photos.

Hasn’t lost yet. Also … hello.

What is it that’s turning me around on Tomas Berdych? The jeans? The hair? The cardigan? The implicit promise of being gently ravished in the backseat? Whatever it is, it’s working.

I am mentally cropping out the right two-thirds of this photo and then saving it to my F drive, if you know what I mean.

It’s funny how a match that can seem like the most epic, fascinating struggle when you’re forced to follow a scoreboard that behaves like the universe in the time-skips episode of Futurama is a mindnumbing, error-strewn slog when you actually get to watch it. Or so I gather from the comments I’ve been reading on Marin Cilic’s exhausting three-set win over Igor Andreev today.

Like Brockian Ultra Cricket.

Marin eventually prevailed 64 in the third, but it doesn’t seem like this is going to be his year in Monte-Carlo. Again. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was also made to work hard in overcoming Nicolas Almagro.

In stark contrast, the other second-round winners today positively breezed through. Fernando Verdasco demolished Julien Benneteau with the loss of just three games, while Miami finalist Tomas Berdych went one better in a 62 60 victory over Richard Gasquet. And they’re slated to meet in the next round. Good times.

Monte Carlo always generates cool picturage … and you know how I like my pictures.

In the ever-growing list of random yet oddly inspired publicity stunts the ATP comes up with, sending Nole and Jo to visit the Oceanographic Museum in Monte Carlo has to be right up there.

Nole, Jo, and the remains of charismatic megafauna. These are a few of my favourite things.

No, really.

I love Jo’s demeanour in these photos. He’s acting like you do when you aren’t really interested at all in what you’re being shown – or are too interested in the person who’s showing you – so you concentrate hard on everything with painful politeness.

Nole, meanwhile, is the Instant Expert. I love it.

So, remember that case file I mentioned?

*adds*

Meanwhile, Rafa talked to the press …

… Marin popped up to be very serious about something …

… and Nole turned up to, well, not be:

I love how Monte Carlo is like Noleville. Except for the bit where he actually wins the tournament.

You have to feel a little sorry for Ecuador’s sibling team of Nicolas and Giovanni Lapentti, who were properly up against it this weekend. I was interested to see (or rather scoreboard) the match between Nico Lapentti and Ivo Karlovic, because it seems like every round these guys are going five sets for heroic wins/painful losses. They didn’t disappoint, with Karlovic coming back from two sets to one down to win 64 in the fifth. After which Marin Cilic dismissed Giovanni in three sets and got on with his main occupation of being too cute for words.

High fives are a serious thing, you know. Not to be taken lightly.

Ecuador/the Lapenttis were left with the task of winning the doubles to keep the tie alive against the lanky Croats.

They didn’t manage it, falling in three tight sets and leaving the Croatians with nothing to do except demonstrate that they’re not nearly as good at hugging as they have been in the past.

Not natural huggers, are they?

Still, huge congratulations to Team Gangle on a drama-free win and progressing into the quarterfinals for the zillionth time. They’ll be up against either the United States or Serbia next. Which could be … interesting. Quick, have some more pictures.